Savannah monitor

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
yea i would start building his cage pretty soon as he has the potential to be 4ft long in a year and very well should be, these guys grow like lightning, a friend of mine has 7 6 month old black throat monitors that are all over 4 feet, and he admits to not feeding them all that much

skip the bin you will lose too much humidity build a 4x2x3 with a foot of dirt and a basking spot of 120+ and then start working on that 4x8 cage
they need a lot of dirt and just that plain old dirt that you dig up mixed with a bit of sand until you have 1/3 ratio of sand to dirt and please think of this for a while and don't impulse buy it, these guys get big, have you ever handled a large monitor one that will likely bite and hiss and tail whip you
a bite from a four foot lizard is a very painful one
I was bitten by a 3 foot iguana and I still have a few scars from it, so please take this into consideration when i say they are NOT beginner animals
 
It is not an impulse buy. I have some time to plan and get ready for it. I am trying to rearrange my room to fit a 5'Lx4W'x2.5'H cage in there for it. I don't plan on making them obese there is a 4' one at the store also that is and it takes away from the beauty of these creatures. I already knew they love to dig and planned on mainly insect diet when young. Even if it bites, and tail whips me don't mean I will give up on it. Just not how I am. I am fully capable of building a big enough enclosure for when it gets bigger. If I do get one would you be able to sex it by pictures for me?
 
Plan on it being somewhere between 18" and 2' at a year old. If you give it enough heat and space it won't get fat, unless it's eating a lot of really crappy/fatty food like canned dog food etc. I honestly wouldn't bother building a cage unless it's his adult cage, just make sure you can keep the bin heated well enough and humid enough so you don't see shedding issues.
 
Well I want to build this cage for now. Give it more room to move around. Also I could easily find a smaller lizard to use the cage when (s)he is out of it. I will make sure (s)he is exercised. Never planned on feeding (s)he dog food. Don't find it okay to feed anything dog food other then dogs. Also the cage I plan on building should be good because it will hold heat and humidity better then a bin.
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/cages.shtml
That is the site I will use as a reference to building the cage. I plan on putting a lock on the cage so I know my sister or little kids can't get to the monitor. My sister has a bad habit of when she is hear taking out any of my reptiles she wishes. Whether I am here or not.
 
Depending on the size of the lizard a grow out bin might be a good idea. Imgine trying to handle a new flighy lizard in a huge cage. Start small so it can get used to you and if something goes wrong it won't be a pain to find it. I do reccomend a deep enough substrte for them to cover themselves in. People tend to overlook that aspect. If your carefull and work with your lizard you shouldn't get bitten but anything can happen.

best advices I can give you is respect your lizard and it will learn to respect you.
 
I am going to use then bin when I first get it. When I get it then I will start building the cage. Any relationship with animals all relies on respect.
 
Okay so I called to see the price for the baby Savannah. There apparently is 4 of them. The one I saw was about 5" when I go to look at them I will pick probably the smallest one. They are $50 is that a good price?
 
People will tell you $50 is too high because you can find them cheaper at shows, in the classifieds etc, but $50 is about average for a sav from the pet shop.

This is going to sound odd, but I would pick the most aggressive one if you can. When the shop guy sticks his hand in, if there's one trying to eat his hand, that's the one you want. A fearless baby monitor will grow into a tolerant adult monitor; skittish/flighty babies don't.
 
So ask to see them all out side of the cage and pick the most aggressive? As weird as it sounds it also sounds amusing seams how I don't exactly like the main guy that works a the pet store.
-edit- Any good advice about these guys. I know they need deep dirt/sand. There is a chance I will get bit, scratched and whipped by a tail a few times maybe more when handling. I know it will get big and I will need a big cage. I know not to feed a lot of fatty foods and give him exercise. What would be the best lights to use for him? So I should expect anywhere from 18" -3' in the first year? And any extra info you believe most people over look would be excepted.
 
he has the potential to be full grown in his first year some won't but he has the potential he will likely be around 30-45 inches in a year for a healthy animal
I agree with the aggressive thing as that would mean he is a good eater
 
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